What makes a good relationship?
When it comes to friends— Honesty with caring.
When it comes to lovers— Honesty with caring and lots of sparks.
When it comes to forever— All of the above, and I really think you need to be able to laugh together.
Being a couple for many years usually means navigating some difficult moments, as well as enjoying highlights and passion and things you’ve looked forward to forever. But another component to what makes a relationship last, I think, is the ability to laugh on a daily basis, sometimes in the middle of worst situations.
It might not be a belly laugh, but that moment when you have to smile, even when your heart is breaking—that’s special. That’s a connection that goes deep.
One of my favourite moments in A Rancher’s Bride is when there’s something happening outside the hotel where Kelli and Luke are staying, and…well, I’ll let you read part of it. It’s a light-hearted scene, but it takes place after a huge emotional change has begun, and it’s when Luke starts to see Kelli more completely for the first time.
May you have people in your life who truly see you, and people who want to share the little moments of joy with you enough to force you to come sit with them in a bathtub…
Luke woke to an empty bed, the bathroom door still moving as he peered around the room in search of his missing bed partner.
“Kelli?”
Her head poked out the doorway a second later, eyes twinkling as she crooked a finger and motioned for him to join her. “Hurry up.”
He hesitated too long because she rolled her eyes then marched out to whip back the top sheet and grab his hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to ravish you in the shower or anything. You’ve got to see this.”
This time he followed, curiosity winning out. She guided him to the deep soaker tub that sat in the corner of the bathroom, stepping into the empty basin so she could sit on the far side and point toward the mountains. “Look.”
It was a little strange, stepping into the empty tub. He leaned over her, and happiness bubbled up from inside as her laughter rang out.
The massive snowfall had been put to good use already this morning. Someone had built a field full of snowmen, with typical branches for arms and carrots for noses. Here and there were hats and scarves.
A herd of deer were foraging on the edge of the tree line. A couple of the does had fawns with them, yearlings by now, but still with a heightened sense of curiosity. Two of the young ones had wandered in amongst the snowmen, sniffing and scratching at the snow near the base of the rounded balls.
One fawn took a great liking to a scarf around a snow woman’s neck, grabbing hold of the end and giving it a tentative nibble. The deer tugged too hard, and the scarf tightened, knocking against the snow woman’s neck and decapitating the poor creature.
The loosened head rolled toward the deer, and chaos ensued.
Tails were lifted, flashes of white warning rang out. Deer jumped back, knocking into other snowmen. Within seconds the herd had trampled the snowy field, and most of the snowman army lay in ruins.
Kelli was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. She turned to toward him, catching his arm and dragging him with her into the bottom of the tub where she gasped for air between peals of laughter.
He felt pretty lightheaded himself.
How had he missed seeing this? How had he missed seeing Kelli?
Preorder Today
US
UK
Canada
